As Told By The Instructor
by sexgod401
Summary: Just a little thing I cooked up because you never see a story from the band instructor's point of view and they're people too.
1. Chapter 1

I nearly dropped my baton and stared at the girl standing on my podium. "What?" I asked, fearfully.

"I don't know how to direct," she replied calmly, looking as if that was the dumbest question she had ever heard.

I honestly didn't know how to reply. "You're going to be the drum major this summer!" I said. "How did you make it through your drum major training!"

Candice smiled at me, said something about faking it, and proceeded to take her seat.

I gave a short speech about band and how if you weren't dedicated, you could leave the room right now. No one moved. Satisfied with the response, I climbed onto the podium, raised my baton, and gave the down stroke.

Not one person played.

xXx

The first day of band camp had me watching a group of ninth graders looking around, worriedly. "Don't worry," I announced through my megaphone. "Whatever horror stories you've heard about this aren't true."

Michelle, a young girl with glasses, raised her hand slowly. "Even the part about the food being really bad?"

"I heard that we have to do skits!" another boy called.

"Really?" came a response from the girl next to him. "I heard the mattresses are covered in stains that no one can name."

Okay, so maybe some of the stories were true… "I'm not sure about the mattresses," I said. "And I happen to like the food. As for the skits…" I trailed off, looking at my band. _My_ _band._ Suddenly, I wanted to quit.

xXx

"Alright, listen up! Everyone gather around, we need to practice!"

Of course, everyone listens to my assistant director, Abigail Windle. No one ever listens to _me_. I mean, I'm the director, so what would I know?

The band separated into their sections, standing in less than perfect arcs, ready to play. I stood in front of them, raised my hands and gave the first of many down strokes that day.

They were awful, as I had expected. Very few knew the music, the majority of those being the true blue, life long members.

"That was wonderful," I lied. "Absolutely- Briana, stopping emptying your spit valve on Lisa's head!"

Briana stopped and looked at me sheepishly while Lisa, who had apparently not noticed what was going on, began to panic.

"Ewww!" she screamed, dropping her flute and bringing her hands to her hair. "This will take forever to get out!"

I gave Abigail a look, telling him that Briana was her kid and she should take care of it.

I got a glare in return and sighed. On the other hand, this day couldn't get any worse.

xXx

I hate being wrong.

"Amanda," I asked. "Why did you stop playing?"

"I haven't been playing!" Amanda shouted back. I looked at her oddly. "Why not?"

"Nothing's coming out of my flute!"

I sighed and took the flute, carefully inspecting to see if there were any loose screws or springs. Finding none, I looked hopelessly at Abigail. She came to my rescue, taking the flute from me and peering inside. She plays the flute herself, you see, and knew more about the stupid things than I could ever hope to. "Well, here's the problem," she said, full of vast knowledge. She stuck her finger in the end of the flute and proceeded to pull something out. A _furry_ something out.

"Don't tell me tell me that's a…"

It was. The three of us stared in silence at the cleaning stick Abigail had produced. I glanced at her, she at me, and we both looked to Amanda. Amanda's response? "Oh! That's where that thing was!"

I began to bash my head against a tree.

xXx

One massive headache and two hours of practicing later, I was leading the band through prayer before dinner. We do this for those in the band that pray before their meals. I came up with this idea of course. Though I don't actually pray myself…

The boy that mentioned the food being bad looked at the chicken in front of him, looked at me, looked back at the chicken, and said; "I told you the food was bad."

"Then don't eat it," I replied. After all, there wasn't anything I could do about the food being bad. I'd done my share for today. I was hungry, I was going to eat, and then I was going to relax for the rest of the evening. Just as the students were going to do. I hoped…

xXx

Surprisingly, band camp flew by for me. If you asked the students, they would tell you something different, but you can't ask my students, so you'll have to take my word for it.

The second to last day… I, for one, was celebrating. Quietly, of course. I didn't want to give my students the wrong idea.

Briana could handle that for me.

Briana somehow had managed to get on the guard bus. She managed to unload all of the equipment, with the help of Alaina, though Alaina would never admit to that. I have an odd feeling that Trisha played a part as well…

Well, they somehow rigged the radio up to a guitar amp. I don't think I'll ever figure out how they did this, and I don't really care.

The entire band, as well as people in the few houses scattered around near it were awakened by "I like cheese! He likes cheese! We like cheese!"

I stormed out of my cabin in my bathrobe and boxers, slamming the door behind me. "Do you have any idea what time it is!" I shouted at her. Briana smiled down at me from the top of the bus. "Yeah!" she said. "Isn't it amazing!"

"It's two o'clock in the morning!"

That didn't seem to phase her one bit. In fact, her smile grew wider, if that was possible. "I know! Rock on!" She did this odd hand motion, holding her thumb and pinky out and shaking her fist, before strumming a few notes on her guitar. My megaphone, I'm not sure how she managed to get that out of my cabin, was strapped to the base drum stand, which was balancing precariously on the edge of the bus.

By now, the other members of the band, including the faculty, had arrived and were watching with interest.

"Sir," Aiden said, coming up next to me. "Your face is getting very red."

I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster and he shrank back.

Briana wisely stayed on top of the bus. "I'm Briana Windle!" she shouted. "And I owns this camp!"

A few members of the band cheered as she began another song. I was seriously debating the consequences of climbing up after her. Or, better yet, getting behind the steering wheel of the bus and driving it with her on top.

Aiden put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't sir," he said. "It wouldn't be worth it."

Watching my band begin dancing, a few of them grabbing their instruments and joining Briana on top of the bus, had me seriously doubting Aiden's words.

xXx

Home sweet home.

I was glad to be there, stretching my feet out on my couch and turning on the television. A week surrounded by kids like… No, best not to think about her.

The awful part was, I had been away from the kids for two days and had practice with them that night. Ugh.

I didn't think I was ready for that, but it was my duty. Someone had to get those kids into tip top shape for our competition in two weeks.

There was no way we were going to win…

xXx

Practice went as well as could be expected. Kids tripped over kids, mouth pieces were lost, and one trombone player even managed to get the lid from a milk jug shoved into her bell. It wouldn't come out and I was helpless.

It was Briana that came to my rescue. Though Alaina offered to do it, she didn't have the lung capacity to launch that lid into the air. Briana, not surprisingly, did. She took a deep breath and blew as hard as she could. It was quite impressive, seeing as how she's a trumpet player. The lid flew through the air and landed on the ground, where Aiden unsuspectingly stepped on it, slipping and falling backwards, his arms flailing. He crashed into the xylophone, hitting his head on it.

The driver of the ambulance wanted to take me as well, claiming I looked way too stressed out.

"Did you see the blood?" Briana asked as the ambulance drove away, Abigail and Alaina inside it with Aiden.

One of the parents had to remind me that strangling a student would be frowned upon by others.

xXx

I've always loved the first competition of the year. The thrill I get watching my band march on to that field, full of confidence and expecting to win first place.

That is, until this year.

One of the judges looked at me, wringing my shirt in my hands. "Are you alright?" he asked, handing me a glass of water. I nodded, deciding that telling him exactly what thoughts were going through my mind probably wasn't the best thing to do.

The show, for once, went smoothly without a single problem. All three judges complimented me on the performance and I was smiling when I rejoined my band in front of our homerooms.

"Good job," I said. "Wonderful! First place is as good as ours!"

That, right there, was probably the biggest mistake of my life.

xXx

I watched, not really shocked, as the fire department put out the fire that had once been the football field.

We hadn't won first place and, while no one could prove it, I was pretty sure my band had something to do with the mysterious arson incident.

With my band gathered around me, I looked around for Briana. Naturally, she was right next to me.

"I had nothing to do with it," she told an officer. "I was with my instructor the whole time."

I knew this wasn't true, but decided that I had better follow the band motto; which was the equivalent of 'stick together' and nodded in agreement.

Besides, I was pretty upset that we didn't win as well.

xXx

We didn't make it to states. We won first place in our last show, but it wasn't nearly enough to bounce us up into the top ten. Although I was disappointed, I was more concerned with how my band would handle it.

They handled it surprising well. No fires, no bomb threats, no nothing. I blinked in surprise as they trooped off the buses, one by one, no pushing or shoving or tripping over each other in a rush to get home. All in all, it was upsetting.

I gathered them around me. "Don't worry," I said. "We still have our trip to Disney World to look forward to."

It was like a switch had been thrown. Thirty teenage faces looked at me, trying not to smile. I wasn't mad? Wow!

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and waved them off.

"Bye Mr. Adol!" Briana called, standing up in Aiden's truck bed and waving. "See you at practice tomorrow!"

Oh, Lord save me…


	2. Chapter 2

What had I been thinking? There was no way that Disney World was ready for us. There was no way that Briana was going to make it past that fence.

No, wait… She was over the fence and running like mad for the busses.

"Don't go to the bus!" Alaina shouted. "They'll know what band you belong to then!"

Briana veered to the right, passed the busses, and leaped over not one, but two picnic tables. It was pretty incredible. She landed with a thump, losing a shoe in the process, and continued down the pathway to the hotel we were staying in.

"Is she with you?" one of the guards asked me.

"No," I said. "I don't know who that is."

Aiden and Alaina were cheering her on.

"Run faster!" they screamed.

That was when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a golf cart pulling out of a shed.

We were going to be kicked out…

We weren't kicked out. The guards never found her and couldn't link her with the band because they didn't know her name.

"Do you realize how much trouble you're in?" I asked, giving Briana my coldest glare. She blinked and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

I knew that wasn't true, but I couldn't do anything about it. Abigail had sided with Briana and, to be frank, Abigail scares the hell out of me. So, I let Briana go with a warning.

"Okay, maybe dropping your pants like that wasn't appropriate," Trisha said. She had been the mysterious driver that had rescued Briana.

I looked at them both in horror and finally shook my head. "I should have known."

All Briana did was smile.

Epcot is my favorite place in Disney World. Pretty much, it's a bunch of countries circling a rather large lake, but I love it.

I must say that the worst experience I had during the visit to Epcot was trying to find a bathroom.

"What do you mean there isn't a bathroom here?" I asked.

"Well, Africa isn't a country," the woman behind the snack counter said, as if that was all the explanation I needed.

"I know that," I replied. "Africa is a continent. It should have a freaking four star restaurant!"

I got the feeling the clerk didn't agree with me, but Abigail was laughing her head off down by the water.

We visited each country, meeting up with various students now and again. "Where's Briana?" I asked. "I thought she wanted to spend the day with you."

Abigail shrugged. "She went with Alaina and the others. You know how kids are."

Briana is the reason I don't have kids. I could end up with something like… _that_. I didn't mention this to Abigail though. I simply nodded.

"So then, I said 'Why is there an America here? I mean, you go outside the gates and there's America!'" Briana paused to put a piece of… something in her mouth. "The lady was really rude and I don't think she appreciated my opinion," she continued. "She glared at me and then asked if I was going to buy a button or not."

"She was wearing a colonial dress," Aiden said.

Briana fixed a glare on him and all I could think was how much she looked like Abigail. What a scary thought.

I had been listening to the conversation only partially. Instead, my thoughts were on whether I wanted to get into the pool, which I did, and subject myself to the horrors of Briana in the water, or continue to sit on my chair and pretend that I was interested in the book I held in my hand.

The former won out and I climbed into the lukewarm water, almost sighing in bliss.

Briana cheered and swam towards me, so I tried vainly to escape.

I resurfaced, sputtering and choking on the water I had accidentally swallowed.

I could vaguely hear Aiden scolding Briana for dunking me under the water and smiled. At least someone in my band was on my side.

Briana called him a wuss and dunked him as well.

"Quit dunking my boyfriend!" Alaina shouted before doing a canon ball and swimming over to splash Briana.

My band is very mature, as you can tell.

"Alright," I announced to the busload of kids I was facing. Our parade was over, the fireworks were said and done. All that remained of the day was to go back to the hotel and get some sleep. "There's going to be a guest tomorrow at breakfast. Mickey Mouse will be there, wearing a special suit."

"He's going to wear a Speedo!" Trisha shouted. The kids around her started laughing and I tried my best not to smile. I didn't respond to the question, instead letting it hang in the air, ready and waiting to be answered the next morning.

"This isn't what I thought it would be," Alaina said. She was looking forlornly at her plate of eggs and sausage. Beside her sat myself and on her other side was Aiden. He was the healthy one in the group. He handed her an apple from his selection of fruits and bit into a pancake. No syrup, no sugar, I wondered how he could stand to eat it plain.

Mickey Mouse appeared from behind some curtains and all evil thoughts fled the minds of the students filling the tent. You could almost see the memories of years long gone flowing through their heads.

Personally, I didn't want to think back to my childhood. It was too far gone and I would have been sitting on that bench forever.

"Brings you back, doesn't it Mr. A.?"

I sighed. "Yeah," I said. No use fighting the inevitable.

I wasn't going to ride the teacups. I wasn't going to ride the teacups.

I looked around. Oh hell, why not? No one was near me. I climbed in, having to spread my legs to fit, and waited for the ride to start.

Twenty nauseating circles later found me sitting, once again on a bench, drinking a soda.

"I saw you on that ride."

I couldn't help it. I jumped. Soda spilled down my shirt and I really wanted to kill Briana.

She just sat down next to me, smiling. "I won't tell anyone you're a dork," she assured me.

I didn't know whether to thank her or not.

When it was time to go, I caught Briana smirking at me and Alaina giggling next to her. Aiden was looking at me with an odd expression on his face and Trisha was laughing hysterically. "Looooser," they all said at the same time. Briana gave me a thumbs up and then turned to watch the show that was being performed at the princesses' castle.

Oh, if I could only kill her right then…

The Animal Kingdom was something to be admired.

"The tree is fake!" Trisha cried. "What the Hell! I thought the tree was supposed to be _real_!"

This outburst caused many a parent to give her a withering look and direct their young children away from her.

Trisha didn't notice. Neither did her friends. They were still looking at the tree.

Their attention, short as it is, was drawn to the sound of a lion roaring.

"Alright!" Trisha yelled. "Lions!"

It was a good thing we had already decided our check in times.

The last memory I got to add to my ever growing collection was Briana and Trisha walking up to various Disney characters and asking them if they were hot in those suits. It caused quite a stir and I was thankful it was the last day we were going to be there.

The trip had been all too long, and yet, somehow, all too short.

My God, it was as if these kids never slept! No matter what time it was, there was always a group of them up, talking on the bus.

I had to go back and tell them to be quiet twice before they got the idea and settled down. I took count of each kid after every stop we made, pleased to find that not a single one had been left behind as of yet.

I decided long ago that teenagers were like wild animals. No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to control them. Right then, it seemed like I had been wrong. After all, the only one awake with me was Aiden.

I kicked his butt at some little two player game he had for his game boy and he looked almost hurt, so I let him win. I think he knew, but he accepted it anyway, smiling and laughing at me. "You suck," he whispered.

Well, that's the last time I do _that_.

The bus ride was uneventful. We had one misplaced child, surprisingly not Briana.

"Briana locked me in the stall!"

Well, that made me feel better. At least Briana had something to do with it. Things just weren't normal if she didn't.

"I did not!"

Also normal.

"You," I said, pointing to Tiffany. "Stop getting locked in bathrooms. And you," I pointed to Briana. "Stop locking people in bathrooms."

My job done, I ushered them back onto the bus.

"Home at last!" Briana shouted, jumping off the bus. "Thank God! I had to tape not one, but two shows! Every. Day. Of. The. Week." She smiled at Abigail. "I've got a lot of TV to watch this week, mom."

I gave Abigail a pat on the back and went to supervise the unloading of the bus.

Now that we were back, I had only one thing to look forward to.

Having the weekend off away from these kids.


End file.
